Part Two – Tempting FateOn Sunday I started feeling all smug and overconfident. Things have been going so well, so I figured I must have iron will-power, and after lunch lovely cousin Erin and I sauntered into Pottery Barn to just “peek” for a bit. Oh my the sales…lovely birch printed plates I had coveted in December now for $1.97, those sweet aqua pencils in a little leather box for $6.00, Savon de Marseille hand cream for $2.97. I resisted, but it was painful. And…I actually almost bought the hand cream reasoning that it was a necessary toiletry, but at the last minute I put it back and left empty-handed and feeling... well, kinda sad… (did you think I was going to say proud or virtuous? No, it was definitely a little sad.)

Part Three – This is the Part Where I Break Down…It was like Pottery Barn was the primer… From there we went to have a cupcake and walked over to Calypso next door.

I ended up buying Audrey a little lapis blue silk dress.

Now there are all sorts of ways I could justify this purchase, (it was on sale, she loved it so much she wore it out of the store and didn’t take it off until 9:00 last night when I forced her to, she can wear it in the summer with sandals and in the winter over a long sleeve t-shirt and tights, Millie will inherit the dress after Audrey grows out of it …) but I won’t. (Wait, I just did, didn’t I?)

Really I think it's just best if I admit it and move on. I’m not going to dwell…I’m back in the saddle and moving forward.

It sounds like you had a wonderful weekend! So productive! The cupcakes look delicious - yum. i think no worries about that one little slip. just get back on the horse, right? (says the one who is NOT on a shopping hiatus, though she should be!)

Yes, I made my confession last week. I got over it. I moved on. And that pretty dress I bought is actually what will carry me forward. I got it this week, and it was SO worth the humiliation and the guilt it caused. Other than that slip, I've been a good girl. No temptations or hard moments to speak of. But that was last week...

Yep, just admit it and climb back on the wagon. Plus, it wasn't for you, right? So maybe it doesn't totally count? Wait, this is supposed to be a support group, not an enabling group. I'll just stop myself now.

This week, I didn't buy a pair of mary jane flats, the Canon Rebel XT, and the steam mop that I've been eyeing online. I've realized this one important factor. When we shop, it isn't always a new pair of shoes we want but we want to achieve some little high we get from treating ourselves. And we humans are hard-wired to need something to look forward to (particularly handy for online shopping!) So, when you go out there, realizing that you want a spending high rather than a new pair of shoes (or whatever) might give you the strength to say no. Thanks for the support!

I have come to detest sales and things drastically marked down. Pottery Barn is evil. Anthropologie is sinister. Except for my drive-by last weekend, I have been staying away from the good shopping areas. It hasn't been on purpose, but maybe subconscious?? I have to buy my mother-in-law a birthday gift and I bought her a gift card (for a bed & bath store) while in line at the grocery store because I don't want to subject myself to the pain awaiting me at the mall.

I have started identifying some of my weaknesses like Itunes and used books off of amazon.com which are small purchases but then add up to a lot at the end of the month sometimes. It's all that little stuff that I think is so harmless, oh one magazine here and two books here and $15 worth of music... Lastly, I am grappling with house stuff like decorating and home improvement both of which we have a lot to do. I need to set up some sort of budget for that stuff. That is another area that I completely lose track of. Yes, move on. It's a new week...erinn

This week I did pretty well- my first week I reasoned that J Brand skinnies from the thrift store totally were a necessity because my only other pair of skinny jeans had holes and these were almost brand new for super cheap. I'm still not sure if that was warranted, but oh well. I was tempted to shop on Saturday because of a bad mood but I held off, and made a little list of things I could do instead of shopping. Check it out:

I did my update on Monday! I'm going strong thanks to some gift cards I had left from my birthday in Nov. Alas, they're all gone now and it's time to get tough. I'm busy working through my entire wardrobe, 'discovering' old things, new combinations etc. It helps!I never even considered children's things as part of the hiatus so according to me, you're in the clear!

I took a class yesterday at Pottery Barn and scoped out the sales while I was there too. They had fantastic bargains! I picked up cocktail napkins (white with silver border), sets of four for $3.97 and I had a 10% off coupon from attending the class. Score!